Ishmael speaks of days long forgotten
before declarations of independence or
tear stains cotton before concentration
camps in the broken backs of railroad
workers before the bubonic plague or
aids first surfaced before we became an
amnesiac society stuck in our ways and
filled with anxiety see we have
forgotten labeled it pre history
thousands of years of living outlined
only in Chapter three as opposed to
being at least three chapters we live in
the after never stop to question the
before but I assure you such a time
existed there was that today when we
live free of this myth that there is one
right way and people were not afraid to
live differently when it was not how it
was done but the fact that it worked
that matters
somewhere between the Fertile presence
and the Industrial Revolution this
belief was shattered and we were left
with splinters which left untreated have
infected our point of view nature was
once our brother now it is something
that we abuse something that we assume
was placed on earth solely for our use
from the trees to the land to the water
to the food it was only a matter of time
before people became products – did we
watch this happen to plants animals and
insects smug from a distance not
realized that we would be next but the
earth was here before the first man took
his first step was created to maintain
balance so it has to self-correct remind
us of our place here and how we all
intersect if beef is what I eat from the
cow and I connect and that deserves
respect that is cause-and-effect and
understanding that everything gives and
takes and that is how it must be for
this earth to rotate our tomorrow’s are
dwindling beneath the weight of our
waste because we’re stealing the food
off of our brothers plates and not out
of necessity but so he can’t have a
taste because the goal is to control and
to own the right way but we’ve yet to
find a way to prevent
hurricane or to stabilize LA when this
earth begins to quit therefore our fatal
mistake has been to hoard and recreate
that which nature did not intend we
began the process of processing foods
then you intake compounds that don’t
break down when you chew get stuck to
your heart like gum to a shoe now you’ve
become a patient and medication is
through the roof
dependency sets in because your cure is
stored away in a test tube next to your
food and perhaps we could all just eat
that but the cost is too high for those
with low cash flows to afford every
night especially with such limited
options
I guess you see a Trader Joe’s in
Compton or farmers market in Nickerson
gardens so pardon me I have a tendency
to care deeply the way we are used to I
have a tendency to give a damn don’t
encourage not to and not understand this
can be an inconvenient truth it could be
hard to see your part and how you
contribute to this cycle of deficit that
we now represent so let me preface it by
saying this was not the intention but
here here is where we are it’s like
being in a car that is heading south
when your destination is north you can
choose to turn around or you can choose
to stay that course but only one of
those decisions will bring you to where
you need to be so here is the question
that we must ask as human beings are we
prepared to repair our relationship with
nature or will we continue to spend our
lives destroying things
so I’m going to share a quick story with
you about a little bit of what inspired
the piece that I just shared with you
when I was a kid I did what many kids do
and I created this entire world for
myself and in this world everything was
alive my stuffed animals would walk
around on their own or we’d have these
great conversations and they share their
thoughts and feelings it was awesome my
sister thought I was weird
my parents they looked the other way
because I mean at least I was
well-behaved I went to school I got good
grades I made friends but it was behind
my bedroom door that I could engage the
abnormal and create the extraordinary it
was there that I felt the most means and
that I could do big things then it was
time to grow up and like most of us I
had to leave my world behind in exchange
for the real world which far too often
buries the extraordinary now I have to
admit I’ve had a difficult time with
being a grown-up
I really hate wearing shoes
and being inside of a building away from
the Sun for eight hours just feels bad
but we are taught to believe that these
are just normal growing pains but
nothing felt normal about it I was
starting to miss that connection to
something big I felt like the tree that
had no roots so I started to ask myself
questions and the more I dug at who I
was and what was that connection that I
was missing the more I asked questions
like if my ancestors were never brought
here as slaves
what would I eat what would my spiritual
practice be what would community looks
like an education what would a wedding
look like these questions just started
to gnaw and gnaw at me and I became more
and more Restless you see African
American history is often told as though
it began with slavery but nothing could
be further from the truth there is more
to that story but what I was missing was
a way back to my roots a way to talk to
my ancestors and get those missing
pieces so in my search to find your way
back I stumbled across the opportunity
to go to a yoga retreat in Sedona I
packed my bags impulsively said I was
going to leave and headed for the desert
to find this thing only to find myself
surrounded by 14 other black women who
were all so restless and searching for
something imagine our surprise when we
found it while playing and laughing
wearing all white in this beautiful
river now I know we don’t often see
images of black women playing and
laughing but that day we defied all the
stereotypes and I looked up and I had a
tribe we offered the river honey and
fresh jasmine and in exchange she
allowed us to leave as freer versions of
ourselves and I knew that my ancestors
were there that day but even more so I
left with the Peace of knowing that they
had never
left me so I returned to my urban life
after this awakening with a new thirst
for nature I began to seek it at every
single opportunity to talk and commune
with my ancestors I started talking to
plants and animals the way I had those
stuffed animals all those years ago in
my bedroom and I finally realized what
they were trying to teach me then my
ancestors were trying to tell me that
they were here if I were willing to see
them in the wind in the bin of a Raven’s
wing or the fragility of a blade of
grass or just willing to realize that
Mother Earth is alive efforts to heal
the roots of displaced people oppressed
peoples including the intentional
disconnection of indigenous people from
their native land and their traditions
has to begin with a return to nature
find a stream of moving water and step
in Bend at least an hour every day
beneath the Sun plant your feet into the
earth as frequently as possible and
while you are there plant a seed gather
together wear white invite your
ancestors bring honey don’t be afraid to
get wet but more than anything remember
our ancestors have never left us they
are always listening and willing to
reach out to us if we are willing to
step out into the grass and look up to
the side thank you
you
[Music]
before declarations of independence or
tear stains cotton before concentration
camps in the broken backs of railroad
workers before the bubonic plague or
aids first surfaced before we became an
amnesiac society stuck in our ways and
filled with anxiety see we have
forgotten labeled it pre history
thousands of years of living outlined
only in Chapter three as opposed to
being at least three chapters we live in
the after never stop to question the
before but I assure you such a time
existed there was that today when we
live free of this myth that there is one
right way and people were not afraid to
live differently when it was not how it
was done but the fact that it worked
that matters
somewhere between the Fertile presence
and the Industrial Revolution this
belief was shattered and we were left
with splinters which left untreated have
infected our point of view nature was
once our brother now it is something
that we abuse something that we assume
was placed on earth solely for our use
from the trees to the land to the water
to the food it was only a matter of time
before people became products – did we
watch this happen to plants animals and
insects smug from a distance not
realized that we would be next but the
earth was here before the first man took
his first step was created to maintain
balance so it has to self-correct remind
us of our place here and how we all
intersect if beef is what I eat from the
cow and I connect and that deserves
respect that is cause-and-effect and
understanding that everything gives and
takes and that is how it must be for
this earth to rotate our tomorrow’s are
dwindling beneath the weight of our
waste because we’re stealing the food
off of our brothers plates and not out
of necessity but so he can’t have a
taste because the goal is to control and
to own the right way but we’ve yet to
find a way to prevent
hurricane or to stabilize LA when this
earth begins to quit therefore our fatal
mistake has been to hoard and recreate
that which nature did not intend we
began the process of processing foods
then you intake compounds that don’t
break down when you chew get stuck to
your heart like gum to a shoe now you’ve
become a patient and medication is
through the roof
dependency sets in because your cure is
stored away in a test tube next to your
food and perhaps we could all just eat
that but the cost is too high for those
with low cash flows to afford every
night especially with such limited
options
I guess you see a Trader Joe’s in
Compton or farmers market in Nickerson
gardens so pardon me I have a tendency
to care deeply the way we are used to I
have a tendency to give a damn don’t
encourage not to and not understand this
can be an inconvenient truth it could be
hard to see your part and how you
contribute to this cycle of deficit that
we now represent so let me preface it by
saying this was not the intention but
here here is where we are it’s like
being in a car that is heading south
when your destination is north you can
choose to turn around or you can choose
to stay that course but only one of
those decisions will bring you to where
you need to be so here is the question
that we must ask as human beings are we
prepared to repair our relationship with
nature or will we continue to spend our
lives destroying things
so I’m going to share a quick story with
you about a little bit of what inspired
the piece that I just shared with you
when I was a kid I did what many kids do
and I created this entire world for
myself and in this world everything was
alive my stuffed animals would walk
around on their own or we’d have these
great conversations and they share their
thoughts and feelings it was awesome my
sister thought I was weird
my parents they looked the other way
because I mean at least I was
well-behaved I went to school I got good
grades I made friends but it was behind
my bedroom door that I could engage the
abnormal and create the extraordinary it
was there that I felt the most means and
that I could do big things then it was
time to grow up and like most of us I
had to leave my world behind in exchange
for the real world which far too often
buries the extraordinary now I have to
admit I’ve had a difficult time with
being a grown-up
I really hate wearing shoes
and being inside of a building away from
the Sun for eight hours just feels bad
but we are taught to believe that these
are just normal growing pains but
nothing felt normal about it I was
starting to miss that connection to
something big I felt like the tree that
had no roots so I started to ask myself
questions and the more I dug at who I
was and what was that connection that I
was missing the more I asked questions
like if my ancestors were never brought
here as slaves
what would I eat what would my spiritual
practice be what would community looks
like an education what would a wedding
look like these questions just started
to gnaw and gnaw at me and I became more
and more Restless you see African
American history is often told as though
it began with slavery but nothing could
be further from the truth there is more
to that story but what I was missing was
a way back to my roots a way to talk to
my ancestors and get those missing
pieces so in my search to find your way
back I stumbled across the opportunity
to go to a yoga retreat in Sedona I
packed my bags impulsively said I was
going to leave and headed for the desert
to find this thing only to find myself
surrounded by 14 other black women who
were all so restless and searching for
something imagine our surprise when we
found it while playing and laughing
wearing all white in this beautiful
river now I know we don’t often see
images of black women playing and
laughing but that day we defied all the
stereotypes and I looked up and I had a
tribe we offered the river honey and
fresh jasmine and in exchange she
allowed us to leave as freer versions of
ourselves and I knew that my ancestors
were there that day but even more so I
left with the Peace of knowing that they
had never
left me so I returned to my urban life
after this awakening with a new thirst
for nature I began to seek it at every
single opportunity to talk and commune
with my ancestors I started talking to
plants and animals the way I had those
stuffed animals all those years ago in
my bedroom and I finally realized what
they were trying to teach me then my
ancestors were trying to tell me that
they were here if I were willing to see
them in the wind in the bin of a Raven’s
wing or the fragility of a blade of
grass or just willing to realize that
Mother Earth is alive efforts to heal
the roots of displaced people oppressed
peoples including the intentional
disconnection of indigenous people from
their native land and their traditions
has to begin with a return to nature
find a stream of moving water and step
in Bend at least an hour every day
beneath the Sun plant your feet into the
earth as frequently as possible and
while you are there plant a seed gather
together wear white invite your
ancestors bring honey don’t be afraid to
get wet but more than anything remember
our ancestors have never left us they
are always listening and willing to
reach out to us if we are willing to
step out into the grass and look up to
the side thank you
you
[Music]
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